Loaded with vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, this green-tinted ebony face mask looks a bit strange, but packs a detoxing, healing punch.
The base of the mask is Dead Sea mud and French green clay (USA / Canada). Dead Sea mud is thick—something like chilled peanut butter—and smells like the air just before it rains. Coming from the Dead Sea, which is a very dense and mineral-rich body of water, Dead Sea mud is rich in magnesium, sodium, potassium, and calcium. It’s said to help with eczema and acne as well as skin elasticity.
French green clay is a favourite clay of mine, helping to cleanse pores and gently exfoliate. If you don’t have it kaolin, French pink, or Fuller’s Earth would all be good alternatives. I don’t recommend Bentonite here, as it is far too heavy.
To this potent base I’ve added some raw manuka honey for antibacterial goodness and awesome enzyme action. Manuka is famous for its unique flavour and antibacterial properties, which comes from the bees who make it feeding on the nectar of the manuka tree (which is part of the same family as the plant that gives us tea tree essential oil—the Myrtaceae family). If you don’t have any manuka honey you can use whatever raw honey you have on hand and add a few drops of tea tree or eucalyptus essential oil.
All together the final mask is dark, creamy, and smells vaguely of rain and manuka. It left my skin cleansed and refreshed, and helped heal up some lingering zits. Highly recommended!
Dead Sea & Manuka Honey Face Mask
1 tsp Dead sea mud
2 tsp French green clay (USA / Canada)
½ tsp raw manuka honey
1 tsp warm waterMash together the Dead Sea mud, clay, and honey in a small dish, and whisk in the water a little at a time (to avoid clumps).
To use, smooth the mask over the skin and let dry for about 20 minutes before rinsing off. Follow up with some argan oil.
Dear Humblebee….where do you purchase your Dead Sea Mud and is there a special brand that you prefer? Thanks, Janice
Hi Janice! I got mine from New Directions Aromatics (link in the big box above). It’s the only brand I’ve tried, but I do like it 🙂
Since I’m not a fan of eating honey– I can see using it for mask making. Excellent! Plus I have Fullers Earth and have been wanting to make some masks with it. 😀
Lovely! Enjoy 🙂
You’re so cute with that green clay mask on your face! I’ll be looking somewhat similar in a few moments. I love mixing honey and mud for a face mask.
I have an off-topic question for you… do you use/make and enzyme face exfoliate? Not a scrub, but rather a lotion or gel to leave on the skin. I’ve mashed up pineapple and that works but the other day as I was wandering around my place with pineapple on my face I wondered if you have a secret concoction up your sleeve. Do you?
Thanks, Sabine! I have played a bit with some pineapple extract in face masks, but I don’t really have anything terribly interesting to report 🙂 Sorry!
How long will this last? I like to be able to make up a large batch to use. The last recipe I used (not yours) started to smell rancid after a few days. I was hoping to make something that would last several months. Could I just add some citric acid to extend the shelf life? This looks like a fantastic recipe!
Hi Beth! Once you add water, anything will spoil. I find masks tend to go faster than something like a lotion as well. Without a broad spectrum preservative (citric acid is not one) you will encounter this no matter what. You could add something like Gluconodeltalactone and Sodium Benzoate, or Germall, but it seems sort of silly to me to add preservatives to something that can be mixed up as needed so easily. Up to you, though 🙂
Could you substitute the water with witchazel to make it last longer premixed? Witchazel seems to last forever. I’d like to make a mask for my teenage friend (she’s addicted to Lush products) but know she won’t have the patience to mix it herself.
Hey Alex! Sadly not. Witch hazel is still 99.99% water. Water lasts forever on its own, too—it isn’t the water that’s the problem so much as water combined with anything else. You’d need to include a broad spectrum preservative, and even then I’m not sure how long this would last as it’s quite rich in delicious bacteria food.
This sounds great. Its similar to a mask I knock up for my hubby for his psorasis. Manuka honey is awesome, I have UMF21+ on my toast every morning. I also use it in soap, balms, lotions or just straight on cuts/abrasions. Any excuse really…. 🙂
I’m so in love with it! I just did another mask incorporating it and my skin is so happy 🙂
Is there any reason why I can’t use metal to mix this? I just bought some green clay and can’t wait to try this. Thanks.
Nope—as you can see I did 🙂 Bentonite clay is the only clay I’ve read you should avoid metal contact with.
The dead sea mud doesn’t appear to be a link. What brand? Is there a certain location or mineral content we should look for.
I’ve used Dead Sea Mud from both Saffire Blue and New Directions, but if you’re not in Canada you might want to check out my giant list of places to shop for some other sources 🙂
I just ordered some Dead Sea mud, I can’t wait! I’ve been dying to use my Manuka honey for something like this.
Woohoo! Happy making 😀
Just used this recipe and LOVE IT
Yay, I’m so glad! Thanks so much for DIYing with me 😀